As I Opened Fire 1964

Roy Lichtenstein’s ‘As I Opened Fire’ is like stepping into the middle of a comic book mid-explosion, each panel vibrates with flat, graphic energy. What grabs me is Lichtenstein's dedication to artifice. The heavy black outlines, the unblended blocks of primary color, and the Ben-Day dots are so deliberate that they become the subject of the painting. It's as though he's saying, "Look, this isn't real, it’s a representation, a manufactured feeling." In the central panel, there's this rhythmic ‘BRATATATA!’ which explodes out of the guns. It's so visually loud, almost mocking the seriousness of war with its cartoonish zeal. It reminds me a little bit of Léger and his love for machine-like forms. Both artists find a certain beauty in the aesthetics of production, but while Léger celebrated the machine age with a sense of optimism, Lichtenstein seems to be poking fun at our consumption of images. It’s a knowing wink, acknowledging that art, like war, can sometimes be a spectacle.